Brothers in Armchairs

The Campana Brothers began working together in 1983 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where they still live and work. Humberto trained to be a lawyer but gave it up to be a sculptor and Fernando studied architecture but decided to work with his brother to experiment with design and making furniture. They made their name with the development of the Favela Chair in 1991 which was made from scraps of wood found in a São Paulo slum.

They went on to design the Vermelha Chair, the Cone Chair and Estela Lamp.

However, its was only in 1998 that the Campana Brothers were first noticed by the media, when they became the first Brazilian artists to exhibit their work at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, along with German lighting designer Ingo Maurer. Their breakout design of the Vermelha chair is still their best seller.

Since that exhibition at MoMA, the Brazilian brothers have been in the center stage of international contemporary design. Their production has been popular, consistent, and thoughtful. Their success has helped develop a new identity for Brazilian design and has cultivated a sense of hope for Brazil’s young designers of reaching international recognition.

The challenge for the Campana Brothers is to transform something worthless into something worthwhile. This process of transformation has injected a new energy into contemporary design by presenting a bold, vibrant alternative to the rationalist ideals of the long dominant European modern movement.

Fernando and Humberto´s work lies not only in the design on furniture. For example, in 2012 the Campana Brothers in collaboration with Veuve Clicquot designed the project La Gloriette which was exhibited at Zona Tortona at Milan Design Week 2010 and later installed at The House of Veuve Clicquot, Hôtel du Marc.

Most recently the brothers did the interior design of the auditorium and and lobby of the Stedelijk Museum, leaving most definitely their signature in city of Amsterdam.